Willie Nelson photo by David McClister, courtesy of Lost Highway.

Concerts, politics and awards were the order of the day.

Country music kicked off the final quarter of 2010 with some pretty special moments this past weekend, including iconic live dates by Carrie Underwood and Willie Nelson, a public vote involving Sammy Kershaw and an NFL appearance by Country Music Hall of Fame member Charley Pride.

Country’s big moments included:

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GAC's Bill Cody (r) chats with Randy Travis and Carrie Underwood on the red carpet at the second annual ACM Honors. Photo by Keri Braswell, GAC staff.

Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of Randy Travis’ first album on a major label, Storms Of Life, and he’ll observe the milestone with a project that teams him with a number of fellow artists.

Already pegged for the album are duets with Alan Jackson, Josh Turner, Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney as Randy mixes new songs with some familiar titles from the past. The older songs include a collaboration with John Anderson on a remake of Randy’s 1986 hit “Diggin’ Up Bones.”

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Carrie Underwood performs "Cowboy Casanova" at "The 43rd Annual CMA Awards," on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, live from the Sommet Center in Nashville on the ABC Television Network. Photographer: John Russell / CMA

Her “Cowboy Casanova” video is still lodged at No. 2 on GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown, but Carrie Underwood’s got a new video on the way.

The clip for “Temporary Home” makes its GAC debut on Thursday, and she believes it will put a new spin on the song, which has caused a few folks to shed tears or at least develop a lump in the ol’ throat. The actual song is built around the stories of three people, all of whom are able to put a positive spin on a rough place in their lives by recognizing the transient nature of their situation. The video works a little differently.

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Carrie Underwood rehearses on Sunday, Nov. 8 at the Sommet Center in Downtown Nashville for "The 43rd Annual CMA Awards," which will broadcast live on the ABC Television Network on Wed., Nov. 11th, 8-11PM/ET. Photographer: John Russell / CMA

You can do a little Grammy countdown for Carrie Underwood.

Four… the number of Grammys she’s won to date.

Three… she’s slated to perform on Sunday’s telecast in a Michael Jackson tribute that includes a 3-D segment.

Two… she’s nominated for a pair of trophies in that ceremony.

One… her first-year honor as Best New Artist is the one that really rocked her world.

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Carrie Underwood photo by Matthew Rolston, courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Carrie Underwood’s new Play On album is perhaps the most representative of her yet as an artist. Of the 13 songs she recorded, Carrie wrote seven, including the first single, “Cowboy Casanova.”

Coming out of her win on “American Idol,” Carrie was launched straight into the life of an artist, a career she hadn’t actually planned to pursue. She picked up her earliest hits from other songwriters, but she already had a foundation to begin writing her own. After all, she’d done plenty of writing when she pursued a journalism degree before her “AI” tryout.

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